Autonomous vehicles, such as vehicles that do not require a human driver, can be used to aid in the transport of passengers or items from one location to another. Such vehicles may operate in a fully autonomous mode where passengers or a remote operator may provide some initial input, such as a pickup or destination location, and the vehicle maneuvers itself to that location.
Such vehicles are typically equipped with various types of sensors in order to detect objects in the surroundings. For example, autonomous vehicles may include lasers, sonar, radar, cameras, and other devices which scan and record data from the vehicle's surroundings. Sensor data from one or more of these devices may be used to detect objects and their respective characteristics (position, shape, heading, speed, etc.).
These characteristics can be used to provide to occupants of the vehicle a visual indication of objects detected in the vicinity of a vehicle as well as what those objects are likely to do for some brief period into the future. For instance, a display in the vehicle may present a video generated by a video display system from the perspective of a virtual camera fixed relative to the vehicle at a default position. The video may include imagery within a set field of view corresponding to the position of the virtual camera including a portion of the vehicle's surroundings and the vehicle's projected trajectory.
In addition, messages may be overlaid on the video to inform passengers of the vehicle's actions and information regarding the vehicle's route. For instance, the display may include messages overlaid on the video regarding the vehicle's speed, a map of the area in the vehicle's vicinity, and the speed limit of the street the vehicle is travelling upon.